Showcase Your Culinary Creations at the 2024 Clay County Fair

Spencer, Iowa — Calling all culinary enthusiasts! Showcase your award-worthy entries in the Oven Products and Canned Goods & Dried Foods Departments at the 2024 Clay County Fair, presented by SMU, September 7-15.

Oven Products

Whether you’re passionate about baking the best chocolate chip cookies or creating the ugliest cake, the 2024 Clay County Fair Oven Products Department will allow open-class exhibitors to showcase their baking talents. Exhibitors can enter their blue-ribbon best in over thirty-five divisions, including the $1,500 Cinnamon Roll Contest. This contest will be held on Monday, September 9, with judging beginning at 1:00 p.m. The $1,500 Cinnamon Roll Contest is sponsored by Farmers Saving Bank—Milford, Modern Woodmen, Edward Jones, and Asher Motor Company.

There are also thirteen other food contests that open-class exhibitors can enter during the Fair. Highlights include Mrs. Bonser’s Egg Noodles: Stroganoff Contest and King Arthur Floor Contests on September 8. Lakeside Charcuterie will sponsor the Charcuterie Board Contest on September 11. Be Creative with Mrs. Grimes’ Beans Contest and Barb Christensen’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Contest on September 12. The Breakfast Casserole Contest sponsored by the Clay County Pork Producers, KICD’s Pasta Salad Contest, Bruce Piper Traditional Peach Pie Contest, and Bundt Cake Contest sponsored by Maxwell Food Equipment on September 13. Closing out the Fair will be the Northwest Iowa Beekeepers Honey Contest, Betty Pothast Angel Food Cake Dessert Contest, and People’s Choice Salsa Contest sponsored by Okoboji Canning Company on September 14.

With so many divisions and contests, the Oven Products Department at the Clay County Fair invites everyone to participate and celebrate the joys of baking.

Canned Goods & Dried Foods

In addition to the Oven Product Department, the Canned Goods & Dried Foods Department offers another opportunity to showcase your cooking talents.

This year, the Canned Goods & Dried Foods Department will feature over thirty-five different divisions, including pie fillings, vegetables, pickles, jellies, jams, and so much more!

Don’t miss your chance to be a part of the Oven Products or Canned Goods & Dried Foods Departments during the 2024 Clay County Fair. Start preparing your entries now, and let your cooking skills shine!

Open class entries are open to anyone from any county or state. Exhibitors are encouraged to check out the 2024 Exhibitor Handbooks for each Department to find the rules and guidelines for their entries. These handbooks can be found online at www.claycountyfair.com or picked up in the Fair Administrative Office. Pre-registration for all Oven Products and Canned Goods & Dried Foods entries is encouraged and can be completed online, by mail, or in person by Monday, August 19.

Exhibitors also have the option to register their entries before judging. Oven Product entries for divisions 626-664 will be accepted on Friday, September 6 (10:00 am-5:00 pm), while entries for divisions 670-674 will be accepted on Thursday, September 12 (8:00 am-9:00 am). Canned Goods & Dried Foods entries will be accepted on Tuesday, September 3 (8:00 am-5:30 pm) at the Creative Living Center.

About The Clay County Fair & Events Center Rooted in Tradition, the Clay County Fair and Events Center is a year-round facility that annually hosts more than 300 events, including its signature event, the Clay County Fair, powered by SMU. Known as “The World’s Greatest County Fair” since 1917, the Clay County Fair attracts more than 300,000 guests each September for nine days of world-class entertainment, competition, food, fun, and the largest farm machinery show at any fair in the United States. Additional information can be found at claycountyfair.com.

 

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